Apple and its multi-billion-dollar bite

The Apple doesn’t usually fall far from the tree. But in this case, the Braeburn apple fell smack dab in the middle of Reno, Nevada.

The Braeburn, at least as defined by wikipedia is “cultivar of apple that is firm to the touch with a red/orange vertical streaky appearance on a yellow/green background.’’

But when we’re talking about Cupertino tech giant’s Braeburn, it turns out it’s the name of a hedge fund and under-the-radar Apple subsidiary called Braeburn Capital, which the Zero Hedge blog says has become “the world’s largest hedge fund.”

According to Zero Hedge’s Tyler Durden, the most valuable tech company on the planet reportedly has given Braeburn $117.2 billion in assets to manage as of the end June. And that, says Durden, beats out Bridgewater, which until now was widely considered the biggest hedge fund on the planet, with about $100 billion in assets under management.

Despite Apple’s announcement earlier this year that it would award investors a $2.65-per-share quarterly dividend, it still has a mountain of cash that needs some tender love and care. Braeburn is apparently doing that, but with little fanfare and even a smaller amount of transparency, as evidenced by the dearth of public details about the Nevada money managers and how it’s investing the profits from all those iPhone and iPad sales.